MLB Top 5: Toronto Blue Jays First and Third Basemen and DHs

This is the second article in a series that looks at the five best players at each position for the Toronto Blue Jays. In this installment are first and third basemen and designated hitters.

The Blue Jays feature a good mix of offense and defense at their corner infield spots. The starters are two sluggers who starred for the team in the 2000s, and the next players in line are defensive standouts in the decade prior. Designated hitter is manned by two Hall of Famers from Toronto’s title teams in the early 1990s, as well as a slugger who spent eight seasons north of the border.

The Best First and Third Basemen and Designated Hitters in Toronto Blue Jays History

First Baseman

Honorable Mentions – Lyle Overbay may not have had overwhelming power, but he was a solid contact hitter during his five seasons in Toronto (2006-10). Born in Washington State, he made his debut with the Diamondback in 2001, appeared in the MLB All-Star Futures Game the following year and led the league with 53 doubles in 2004 when he was with the Brewers. Following a traded to the Blue Jays, Overbay had his best offensive season, rapping 181 hits and posting a .312-22-92 stat line, with each total being a career high. He missed a portion of the following season with a broken hand but was a solid offensive contributor in each of his years with Toronto. Overbay signed with the Pirates, ending his Blue Jays tenure with 83 home runs, 336 RBIs, 672 hits and 1,117 total bases in 723 games. The 2009 fielding champion bounced around to five teams over the next four years before ending his career with Milwaukee in 2014.

Dominican Republic native Edwin Encarnacion was drafted by the Rangers in 2000 and was traded first to the Reds and then the Blue Jays. Encarnacion time at both corner infield spots, as well as designated hitter, during his eight seasons north of the border. He spent two seasons at first base, earning All-Star selections in both campaigns. Encarnacion batted .272 with 90 runs, 36 home runs and 104 RBIs in 2013, and he followed that by posting a .268-34-98 stat line before moving to DH in 2015.

Like Overbay, Justin Smoak was another player who could hit for power and average while contributing stellar defense. The switch-hitter from South Carolina was drafted in the first round by the Rangers in 2008 and was traded to the Mariners two years later. Smoak was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays following the 2014 season. Most of his five-year tenure in Toronto (2015-19) was the same, with him showing good power but having a low average and striking out a lot. However, Smoak had a career year in 2017, earning his only All-Star selection while setting personal bests with a .270 average, 38 home runs, 90 RBIs, 85 runs, 151 hits and 296 total bases. The 2018 fielding champion finished his time with the Blue Jays with 117 home runs and 951 total bases in 684 games. Smoak split the 2020 season between the Brewers and Giants and ended his baseball career in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants the following year.

5. Fred McGriff – The Tampa native was drafted by the Yankees in 1981 and was traded to the Blue Jays the following year. He made a brief debut in 1986 and spent the next four years endearing himself to the Toronto faithful with his slugging. McGriff totaled at least 90 runs, 30 homers and 80 RBIs three straight years, and he earned a silver slugger in 1989 after batting .269 with a league-leading 36 home runs and 92 runs batted in. He also starred in Tom Emanski’s Defensive Drills, which became one of the best-selling baseball instructional videos of its time.

McGriff was part of a blockbuster trade after the 1990 season involving several other names on these Blue Jays lists, going to San Diego along with shortstop Tony Fernandez in exchange for second baseman Roberto Alomar and outfielder Joe Carter. He finished his time in Toronto with 125 homers, 305 RBIs, 540 hits and 1,030 total bases in 578 games, and he is third in franchise history in on-base percentage (.389) and slugging percentage (.530). “Crime Dog” went on to star with some stellar Braves teams and win a championship in 1995. The then returned home to play with the expansion Devil Rays and spend time with the Cubs and Dodgers before ending his storied career with Tampa. He finished with five All-Star selections, three silver sluggers, 493 home runs, 1,550 RBIs and 2,490 hits in 19 seasons. McGriff was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 2023.

4. Willie Upshaw – A former draft pick of the Yankees, he was selected by the Blue Jays in the Rule 5 Draft following the 1977 season. After spending a good portion of the next three years in the minor leagues, Upshaw became a full-time starter in Toronto in 1982, hitting 21 home runs. He had the best season of his career the following year, setting career highs with a .306 average, 99 runs, 177 hits, 27 homers,104 RBIs and 298 total bases, becoming the first Blue Jays player to drive in 100 runs in a season. Even though Upshaw’s production dropped throughout the rest of his time in Toronto, he was a steadying presence in the lineup. After nine seasons in Toronto (1978 and 80-87), he spent one season with Cleveland and two more in Japan before retiring from the game. Upshaw ranks fourth in franchise history in triples (42), tied for ninth in games (1,115) and tenth in runs (538), hits (982) and walks (390) to go with a .265 average, 177 doubles, 112 home runs, 478 RBIs and 1,579 total bases. He also had six hits in seven games during the 1985 ALCS. Following his playing career, he was a first base coach with the Giants and the manager of the independent Bridgeport Bluefish for eight seasons. Upshaw’s cousins, Gene and Marvin, were both stars in the National Football League.

3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – The son of a Hall of Famer from the Dominican Republic with a cannon arm, the current Blue Jays first baseman was born in Canada while his father was playing for the Expos. Guerrero Jr. signed with the other team north of the border when he was 16, played in the MLB All-Star Futures Game in 2017 and made his major league debut two years later. After one season as a third baseman, he moved across the diamond for the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, then had a breakout year. Guerrero Jr. earned his first of four straight All-Star selections to date, won his first silver slugger and finished second in the MVP voting after batting .311, smacking 188 hits, setting a career high with 111 RBIs and leading the league with 123 runs (second in team history), a .401 on-base percentage, a .601 slugging percentage, 363 total bases and 48 home runs (also second among all-time Blue Jays hitters). He began stocking his trophy case with All-MLB First Team honors, as well as the Hank Aaron Award, and he was named the youngest MVP in All-Star Game history.

“Vladito” hit 32 home runs and won a gold glove in 2022. The following year, his production went down slightly, but he still made headlines by winning the Home Run Derby, becoming part of the first father-son duo to accomplish the feat. Guerrero Jr. rebounded to set personal bests with a .323 average and 199 hits to go along with 98 runs, 30 homers and 103 RBIs in 2024. Entering this season, he ranks eighth in franchise history in home runs (160) and slugging percentage (.500), and he is tied for eighth in average (.288) to go with 475 runs, 905 hits, 177 doubles, 507 RBIs and 1,574 total bases in 819 games. Guerrero Jr. also appeared in the postseason three times, amassing three hits and driving in a run in six games. His talent and accolades resulted him signing a 14-year, $500 million extension early in the 2025 season.

2. John Olerud – A native of Seattle, he was a standout as a pitcher and at first base, both in high school and later in college at Washington State. Olerud suffered a brain aneurysm before his junior year which started bleeding into his spinal column and led to him always wearing a batting helmet during games. He was drafted by the Blue Jays in the third round in 1989 and used his sweet swing to become one of the best contact hitters of the following decade. Olerud bypassed the minor leagues, and, after a brief September callup, he became a solid and durable perform.

Olerud had easily his best season in 1993, when he earned his first of two All-Star selections and finished third in the MVP voting. That season, he batted .400 into August and won the batting title (and set a team record) with a .363 average while leading the league with 54 doubles (second in franchise history) and a team record.473 on-base percentage. He also set career highs with 109 runs, 200 hits, 25 home runs and 107 RBIs. Olerud finished off his season with 10 runs, 12 hits and five RBIs in 11 postseason games to help the Blue Jays win their second straight World Series championship. He continued to be a solid presence in the Toronto lineup for the next three years. However, with his inability to recapture the magic from his career season, as well as the emergence of the next player on this list, he was traded to the Mets following the 1996 season.

The Hutch Award winner is the all-time franchise leader with a .395 on-base percentage, and he also ranks fourth in walks (514), sixth in average (.293) and ninth in doubles (213) to go with 464 runs, 910 hits, 109 home runs, 471 RBIs and 1,462 total bases in 920 games. With the Mets, Olerud’s offense improved to match his stellar defense. In 1999, he made just eight errors while playing in every game and being part of what Sports Illustrated referred to as “The Best Infield Ever”. New York reached the NLCS and Olerud signed with Seattle, where he earned an All-Star selection and won the only three gold gloves of his career. He was traded to the Yankees in 2004 and played with the Red Sox for his final season the following year. Olerud was inducted to the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023. The award given to the best two-way player in college baseball bears his name.

1. Carlos Delgado – The native of Puerto Rico signed with the Blue Jays in 1988 and developed a powerful swing during the next seven seasons in Toronto’s minor league system. After a combined 82 major league games, Delgado took over as the starter at designated hitter, hitting 25 home runs in 1996. He moved to first base when Olerud was traded and smacked at least 30 home runs and drove in more than 90 runs in each of the next nine seasons. During that span, he topped 100 RBIs six times, recorded more than 100 runs and 150 hits five times each and hit better than .300 twice.

Although he played in an era of stellar first basemen, Delgado earned two All-Star selections. The first came in 2000, when het set career highs with a .344 average, and 196 hits, posted 114 runs, 41 home runs and 137 RBIs and both led the league and set team records with 57 doubles and 378 total bases. Three years later, he posted similar numbers, batting .302 with 172 hits, 338 total bases, career-bests with 117 runs and 42 homers and a league-leading 145 RBIs to finish as the MVP runner-up. During the 2003 season, Delgado became the 15th player in major league history to hit four home runs in a game when he accomplished the feat in a victory over the Rays in late September. After one more year with the Blue Jays, he signed with the Marlins early in 2005.

Delgado left Toronto as the all-time franchise leader in runs (889), doubles (343), home runs (336), RBIs (1,058), total bases (2,786), walks (827), strikeouts (1,242) and slugging percentage (.556). He also ranks second in games (1,423) and on-base percentage (.392) and third in hits (1,413) to go with a .282 average. Following a stellar season with Florida, Delgado was traded to the Mets in a cost-cutting measure. He posted a .265-38-114 stat line in his first season with New York, then hit four homers and drove in 11 runs in 10 games to help the Mets reach Game 7 of the NLCS. Delgado overcame a slump in 2007 and posted another fantastic season the following year before his 2009 campaign was ruined by surgery to remove bone spurs and repair a torn labrum in his hip.

The slugging first baseman tried to latch on with the Red Sox in 2010 but suffered a setback in his recovery and retired after playing in five minor league games. Delgado finished his 17-year career with 1,241 runs, 2,038 hits, 483 doubles and 1,058 RBIs in 2,035 games. His 475 home runs are a record for players born in Puerto Rico. Following his playing career, he was a hitting coach for the Puerto Rico team in the World Baseball Classic twice and was named manager of the team in 2025. Delgado works to develop young athletes in his homeland and is associated with many charitable causes in Puerto Rico, which led to him earning the Roberto Clemente Award in 2006. The 2000 Hank Aaron Award winner was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.

Third Basemen

Honorable Mentions – Known for his extremely open batting stance, Tony Batista had a 12-year career with six major league teams, plus one season in Japan. He began as a middle infielder and spent his partial campaign in Toronto after a 1999 trade from Arizona at shortstop. Batista followed that with his best season, earning his first All-Star selection while batting .263, setting career highs with 96 runs, 163 hits, 41 home runs, 114 RBIs and 322 total bases and leading third basemen in double plays. His stats dropped considerable the following year, and he was claimed by Baltimore, where he earned another All-Star selection in 2002. Batista had one more solid year with the Orioles and another with the Expos before spending a season in Japan. He finished his career with the Nationals in 2007.

Matt Chapman was drafted in the first round by the Athletics in 2014, made his debut with Oakland three years later and earned the only All-Star selection of his career in 2019. He proved himself quite the defender in Oakland, winning three gold gloves, two platinum gloves and two Wilson Defensive Player of the Year awards, as well as the Wilson Overall Defensive Player in 2018. When the Athletics dismantled their roster, Chapman was one of the casualties, and he was traded to the Blue Jays before the 2022 season. He was still a decent run producer despite a low average and high strikeout total, and he won his fourth gold glove in 2023. Chapman went to the Giants the following year and, after another solid season that included his fifth gold glove, he signed a six-year, $151 million extension with San Francisco.

5. Eric Hinske – The Wisconsin native was drafted by the Cubs and spent a year in the Athletics organization before he was traded to the Blue Jays in late 2001. Hinske spent his first three seasons with Toronto at third base, and he won the 2002 Rookie of the Year Award after setting career highs with a .279 average, 99 runs, 158 hits, 24 home runs and 84 RBIs. His batting average fell, and his production dropped slightly, although he led all third basemen in fielding percentage in 2004. Hinske changed positions to first base and then right field before he was traded to Boston in 2006. He finished his five-year stint in Toronto (2002-06) with 78 home runs, 313 hits, 584 hits and 988 total bases in 655 games. Hinske played in the World Series three straight years, winning a championship with the Red Sox in 2007 and another with the Yankees two years later while playing with the pennant-winning Rays in between. He played three years with the Braves before ending his career with the Diamondbacks in 2013. Hinske turned to coaching, winning another title as assistant hitting coach with the Cubs in 2016, and he had similar roles with the Angels, Diamondbacks and Mets.

4. Ed Sprague – The son of a former major league pitcher was a winner at every level. Sprague won two College World Series titles with Stanford in 1987-88, a gold medal with team USA in the 1988 Summer Olympics and two World Series championships with the Blue Jays in 1992-93. Toronto drafted him in the first round in 1988, and he made the big-league club three years later. After two years as a backup to a player a little higher on this list, Sprague took over as a starter during the second title season. His best season was 1996 when he set career highs with 88 runs, 146 hits, 35 doubles, 36 home runs and 101 RBIs.

Sprague saw his average drop and he was traded to the Athletics in 1998, ending his eight-year run with the Blue Jays with 113 homers, 418 RBIs, 773 hits and 1,302 total bases in 888 games, as well as leading the league in putouts three times. The following year, he earned his only All-Star selection with the Pirates, and he spent time with the Padres, Red Sox and Mariners before retiring in 2001. Sprague was the head coach at the University of the Pacific for 12 years and also was Director of Player Development with the Athletics.

3. Rance Mulliniks – The thin infielder was drafted by the Angels and played sparingly for both California and Kansas City before getting his chance to start after being traded to the Blue Jays in 1982. Mulliniks moved to third base and started there for the next six years, improving his offensive prowess while playing stellar defense. Although he was never an All-Star caliber hitter, he batted .300 or better three times and won three fielding titles. After the emergence of the next player on this list, Mulliniks moved to designated hitter, but with injuries piling up and team acquiring several talented players, his time in the lineup decreased. He played just three games in the 1992 season and was left off the playoff roster, but he was given a World Series ring after the Blue Jays won their first title.

Mulliniks spent 11 seasons in Toronto (1982-92), and he is seventh in franchise history in walks (416), tied for eighth in games (1,115), ninth in on-base percentage (.365) and tenth in doubles (204) to go with a .280 average, 843 hits, 68 home runs, 389 RBIs and 1,279 total bases. He was a part of three division-winning clubs and amassed two runs, five hits one home run and three RBIs in 11 career playoff games. Since his playing career ended, Mulliniks has worked as an analyst on Blue Jays games, worked as a real estate agent and opened his own baseball school.

2. Kelly Gruber – The Houston native was selected by the Indians in the first round of the 1980 draft while he was still in high school but never played a game for Cleveland. Gruber was selected by Toronto in the Rule 5 Draft following the 1983 season and earned brief callups with his new team in each of the next two campaigns. He eventually earned more playing time once his batting average and production began to improve. Gruber got noticed in 1989 when he earned his first All-Star selection, became the first Blue Jays player to hit for the cycle and finished the year with a .290-18-73 stat line. He had a career year the following season, earning a second straight All-Star selection while winning gold glove and silver slugger honors and finishing fourth in the MVP race. Gruber batted .274 in the campaign and set career highs with 92 runs, 162 hits, 36 doubles, 31 home runs, 118 RBIs and 303 total bases.

Gruber’s stellar season led to a three-year contract extension, but he never recaptured his past magic thanks to injury. Despite hitting 20 home runs in 1991, he suffered through torn ligaments in his hand and a fractured thumb. The following year, he declined even further thanks to a bone spur that had embedded into his spinal cord. Gruber played through the pain and started all 12 games in the playoffs which culminated in the Blue Jays winning their first World Series. Following the title, he was traded to the Angels, but a torn rotator cuff limited him to just 18 games before he was waived. Gruber finished his career in Toronto with 421 runs, 800 hits, 145 doubles, 114 home runs, 434 RBIs and 1,335 total bases in 921 games. He missed the next three years with neck issues and eventually had surgery to fuse a bone from his hip into his neck. Gruber played in the minor leagues with the Orioles for two seasons, but he retired after suffering a hip injury in 1997.

1. Josh Donaldson – While he doesn’t have the championship pedigree of Sprague, the longevity of Mulliniks or the extended production of Gruber, his three-year run of seasons on the mid-2010s was the best of anyone at the position. Donaldson was born in the Florida Panhandle, went to college at Auburn and was drafted by the Cubs as a catcher in the first round of the 2007 draft. A little more than a year later, he was traded to the Athletics and converted to the “hot corner” before becoming a full-time player in Oakland. Donaldson finished in the top 10 of the MVP voting the next two seasons before he was sent to Toronto.

Donaldson didn’t take long to pay dividends for his new team. He batted .297, set career highs with 184 hits, 41 doubles and 41 home runs, and he led the league with 122 runs, 352 total bases and 123 RBIs. By the time the 2015 season ended, Donaldson earned a second straight All-Star selection, his first silver slugger, won the Hank Aaron Award and was named American League MVP. The Blue Jays reached the ALCS, with their third baseman contributing nine runs, 10 hits, three homers and eight RBIs in 11 games. The following year, Donaldson matched his run total, hit 37 home runs and drove in 99 runs to finish fourth in the MVP voting, then amassed six runs, 15 hits, six doubles and five RBIs in nine playoff games as Toronto once again reached the ALCS.

Nicknamed “Bringer of Rain,” not for his high-arching home runs, but for his affinity for the television show “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” Donaldson added 33 more blasts in 2017, but his overall production fell off. The following year, he faced several injuries, including the unique diagnosis of dead arm syndrome, and he was traded to the team that beat the Blue Jays in the 2016 ALCS, the Indians. After a down year, Donaldson looked to rebound and did just the with the Braves in 2019, winning the Comeback Player of the Year Award after hitting 37 home runs. He also spent time with the Twins, Yankees and Brewers before ending his 13-year career in March 2024.

Donaldson spent four seasons with the Blue Jays (2015-18), and he ranks second in franchise history with a .548 slugging percentage and fifth with a .383 on-base percentage. He also batted .281 with 331 runs, 492 hits, 105 doubles, 116 home runs, 316 RBIs and 959 total bases in 462 games while also leading the league in putouts twice. Outside of baseball, Donaldson is an avid golfer and a fan of the History channel series Vikings, even making a guest appearance on the show in 2016.

Designated Hitters

Honorable Mentions – Cliff Johnson was a San Antonio native who was drafted by the Astros, won two titles with the Yankees and spent with the Indians and Athletics before joining the Blue Jays in 1983. He played four years in Toronto in two stints (1983-84 and 85-86) with a half-year run in Texas early in the 1985 season. Despite being at the end of his career, Johnson had decent production with the Blue Jays, setting career highs in his first season north of the border with 59 runs, 22 homers and 76 RBIs. Although he was a fan favorite in Toronto, he was not as well-liked in New York as part of the “Bronx Zoo” teams of the late 1970s. There, he was best known for a 1979 fight with teammate Rich “Goose” Gossage, which led to the reliever missing time due to a sprained right thumb and Johnson getting traded to Cleveland.

Jose Canseco earned MVP and Rookie of the Year honors, earned five All-Star selections and three silver sluggers, won a title and became the first member of baseball’s 40-40 club during a nine-year run in Oakland. His numbers dropped in subsequent seasons until he signed with the Blue Jays in 1998. In Toronto, Canseco put up power numbers like those he had earlier in his career, totaling 98 runs scored, 107 RBIs and a career-best 46 home runs while earning his final silver slugger. Unfortunately, he was plagued by a low average and a league-leading 159 strikeouts. The Cuban-born slugger was an All-Star for the Devil Rays in 1999, won a title with the Yankees the following year and played his final season with the White Sox in 2001. He ended his 17-year career with 462 home runs and 1,407 RBIs in 1,887 games. Canseco spent his post-major league career playing ball in several independent leagues, competed in celebrity boxing and mixed martial arts, wrote two books about himself and other players and their usage of performance-enhancing drugs and had several run-ins with the law.

5. Otto Velez – The native of Puerto Rico signed with the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1969 and played four major league seasons as a reserve corner infielder and outfielder with New York before he was selected by Toronto in the expansion draft. Velez had decent production for most of his time with the Blue Jays, and he had his best season in 1980, setting career highs with 20 home runs and 62 RBIs. His numbers dropped off over his final two campaigns and he ended his six-year run in Toronto (1977-82) with 72 homers and 243 RBIs in 522 games before finishing his career in Cleveland the following season.

4. Dave Winfield – Much like Canseco, he was a slugger who had tremendous success in other places and dropped off before finding his stroke again in Toronto. The Minnesota native earned 12 straight All-Star selections with the Padres and Yankees, and he also won seven gold gloves and five silver sluggers before missing a season due to a back injury and nearly having his reputation ruined by owner George Steinbrenner. Winfield was traded to the Angels early in the 1990 season and signed with the Blue Jays two years later. His numbers resembled those later in his career in New York, with the slugger earning his final silver slugger after batting .290 with 26 home runs, 108 RBIs, 92 runs and 169 hits. In the postseason, he totaled seven runs, 11 hits, two homers and six RBIs in 12 games and hit a two-run double in the 11th inning of Game 6 of the World Series to give Toronto win its first championship. Winfield spent the next two seasons with his hometown Twins, reaching the 3,000-hit plateau in 1993. He played his final season with Cleveland in 1995 and finished his 22-year career with 465 home runs, 1,833 RBIs, 1,669 runs, 3,110 hits and 5,221 total bases in 2.973 games. Winfield was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.

3. Adam Lind – The Indiana native was a third-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2004 and spent nine mostly productive years in Toronto (2006-14). Lind topped 20 home runs four times with the Blue Jays, but his best season by far was 2009. That season, he won a silver slugger and the Edgar Martinez Award as the league’s best designated hitter after batting .305 and setting career highs with 93 runs, 179 hits, 46 doubles, 35 home runs, 114 RBIs and 330 total bases. He missed time in 2014 with a broken foot and was traded to Milwaukee after the season. Lind finished his time north of the border ranked eighth in franchise history in strikeouts (709) and tenth in home runs (146) and RBIs (519) to go with 429 runs, 931 hits, 196 doubles and 1,589 total bases in 953 games. He played three more seasons, retiring in 2018, and he is now a minor league coach in the Phillies organization.

2. Edwin Encarnacion – The three-time MLB All-Star Futures Game participant came to the Blue Jays off a trade from the Reds during the 2009 season and spent most of his time at this position while also appearing at both corner infield spots. Encarnacion went from contact hitter to slugger in 2002, when he batted .280 with 93 runs, 152 hits, 42 home runs and 110 RBIs, After two All-Star seasons at first base, he returned to designated hitter posting a .277-29-111 stat line in 2015 and setting career highs the following year with 99 runs, 158 hits, 318 total bases, 42 home runs and 127 RBIs, which also led the American League. Encarnacion finished his eight-year Blue Jays career (2009-16) with 239 home runs, 679 RBIs, 593 runs, 977 hits and 1,904 total bases in 999 games. He hit a walk-off home run in a one-game playoff in 2016 and appeared in 20 postseason contests for Toronto, totaling 19 runs, 21 hits, four homers and 14 RBIs. Encarnacion signed with the Indians in 2017 and also played with the Mariners and Yankees before ending his career in 2020 with the White Sox.

1. Paul Molitor – The Minnesota native was drafted third overall by the Brewers in 1977 and became one of the best contact hitters in baseball throughout his 21-year playing career. During his 15-year run in Milwaukee, Molitor hit better than .300 eight times, scored at least 90 runs on six occasions and put together a 39-game hitting streak in 1987. He had arguably his best season in 1991 when he was named an All-Star, batted .325 and led the league with 133 runs, 216 hits and 13 triples. Molitor signed with the Blue Jays in 1993 and put together a stellar season north of the border, batting .322, scoring 121 runs, driving in 111, leading the league with 211 hits and setting a career high with 22 home runs. He continued his torrid hitting in the playoffs totaling 17 runs, 21 hits, three homers and 13 RBIs in just 12 games. Molitor was even better against the Phillies, batting .500 (12-for-24) with 10 runs, two home runs and eight RBIs to take home the World Series MVP Award.

Molitor set career highs with a .341 average, 113 RBIs and a league-leading 225 hits, including the 3,000th of his career, after joining his hometown Twins in 1996, and he finished his career two years later. He finished with a .303 average, 234 home runs, 1,307 RBIs, 504 stolen bases, 1,782 runs, 3,319 hits, 605 doubles, 114 triples and 4,854 total bases in 2,683 games. The seven-time All-Star was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004. Molitor turned to coaching, working as a bench and baserunning coach with the Twins for more than a decade and as a hitting coach for the Mariners in 2004. He was named manager in Minnesota in 2015 and was named Manager of the Year two seasons later. Molitor was fired as manager after the 2018 campaign, amassing a 305-343 overall record, but the Twins kept him on as a special assistant and roving minor league instructor.

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